Corn harvester



Oct. 2l, 1952 J. D. BARNARD ETAL CORN HARVESTER 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed Aug. 4, 1949 FIG. 3

FIG.|

JOHN D. BARNARD, a ALToN LEvERsoN,

3 M.. 2 .W 8 w 2 8m 5 rl WT 3. 4 4.,.. 4 |11'- ...f ...cd 9 4 L /f Y. T. 2 f 5 4 l l a uw 9 O 4 T... .4 l1 fl.' 4 4 l.

ATTORNEY 5 Oct. 21, 1952 1 D BARNARD ETAL 2,614,378

. CORN HARVESTER Filed Aug. 4, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 JOHN -D.BARNARD, a .M -TONE LEvERsoN,

Patented Oct. 21, 1952 CORN HARVESTER John Dnarnardand Alton Leverson, Le Sueur, Minn., assignors to Green Giant Company, a corporation of Minnesota l Application' August 4., 1949, serial No. 108,557

' The' invention described in detail inv the following specification relates to sweet corn harvesters. In. the field harvesting of sweet corn by mechanical means, the ears must be removed from the stalks with a minimum of force, in order `to'prevent bruising `the ears or breaking the soft kernels." Machines/have been developed for this "general purpose, but their practical operation is subject to uncertainty in results. This is due -to thefact that the stalks are carried past thev snap-` ping rollers 'without particular provision to maintainthe stalks in the desired position relative to the rollers. 1 j

`Where vthe stalks arefree to swing laterally withrespect to the snapping rollers, the engagement is notalways effectiveto remove the ears. Infact, there is great likelihood that the stalks and" ears will be presented in such manner as to clog'the machine. This not only interferes with eiiicient operation, but also damages a-relatively large proportion of the ears being harvested, thus leading tov `a product of lower grade than necessary.

l Wehave found thatit is possible to insure presentation of the stalks and ears to the snappingrollers in the most eiective position forre-y r'noval of the ears without damage.

i f3 Claims. (o1. 56-107) We simulate hand operation in that the stalks v are held relatively stationary while the ears are twisted off or snapped in a ytransverse position.

There is thus rless likelihood of the stalks beingv brlokenlabovethe ears. This prevents clogging the L-machine and deterioration` of the "ears being harvested.-

` f t.For the purpose of better -illustratingfthe'prevfen-redmode off carrying-out our invention, we

lhave4shown1-it rin the accompanying drawings in'which: y f

lliig. '1' isfafplan view 'of a corn harvester equipped withtheirnproved device; I

- Fig-i2 is a side elevation of the'same; f f

.Figj3 is an enlarged horizontal partial cros`ssection .ofthejear-snapping means taken online .-.Fig..,4 is an enlarged inclined cross-section of the same taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2

. Fig.. .,zis an aenlarged cross-sectiony ofy the drivingy means taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 2;

fvFig.-6 is a diagrammatic plan view of the snapping means asv the lstalk'advances and'before the Y earl is snapped off.;V

`7 is asimilar ofthe ear.y Eig. `8 is Vaschematicplan view of the manner of feeding the snapping device, and i A view showing final removal' LFig. 9 is a schematic side elevation of the same. Our novel improvement .is readily adaptedv to any harvesting machine 4operating through the use of a pair of opposed snapping rollers'between which the stalk and ears are advanced. Asillustrating a typical machine of this vtype,.we have shown the invention as applied to -a corn picker disclosed in the patent granted S. "-If.v Ekholm; January 21, 1947,No.2,414,512. y In vthe form illustrated, the invention'is .part of a harvesting machine which advancesalong a row of growing stalks of corn, and. simultaneously cuts each stalk near the ground by cutters which arenot shown, and advancesgit to Yand through a device for separating therearsy from the stalks and discharges each separately.'

Thus, the machine denoted generally by H, is

supported ona pair of wheels l2 mounted on oppositev ends of a U-shaped axle I3. The'aXle is adjustably carriedin bearings i4, one end .l5 of the axle is held up by a hand-operated screwbar so that the elevation of the frame is variable. In this way the height of cutting .of the stalks is predetermined. l

One wheel carries a sprocket I6 around which a chain Il is trained. The chain connectswith a second `sprocket IB on a transverse shaft.. I9. This shaft has bevel gearing20 forming part of a drive shaft 2| by which the sickle (notshown)v is operated. 1 v L The shaft i9 carries two spaced bevel gears of which vOnly one is shown, each operating an inclined shaft 22. The shafts '22 serve in known manner to actuate a pair ofspacedparallel conveyer belts 23, 23 between which the stalks are supported during cutting by the sickle and-'then advanced toward the corn stripping 'or'snapping means. The upper ends of .these belts are .supported on sprockets 2li carried by spaced-'brackets 25 dependingl from a slotted vplatform 26 of 'the machine proper.

The belts 23, 23 are aligned with a pair of belts 2l, 2l carried by pulleys 28, 28 andsmall idler pulleysv 29,29 all mounted on the platform 26. The' belts 2l', 2'! are in substantial contact and may be provided with special gripping surfaces or V-shaped cross-sections by which the stalks are rmly engaged and advanced. Suitable driving vmeans for the pulleys 28, 28 consists of vertical shafts 3U, 30 connected with pulleys andrcarrying sprockets 3|, 3l One ofthe latter has a chain 32 to another sprocket '33 on the vupper 'end of vertical shaft 34.` The lower end of shaft 34is connected by bevel gears 35 to a transversedrive shaft 36. y f

Shaft 3G is driven through a second bevel gear set 3l and a drive shaft 38 leading from a power means which may be a tractor or the like.

A transversely arranged endless belt 39 underlies the platform 225 and is driven from the transverse shaft 36 by shaft 4b.

Interposed between the belt 39 and the platform 2t.` there is provided meansf-or drawing the -cornstalkslongitudinally by their tassel'end's and at the same time snapping ofi the ears of sweet corn.

Two parallel bearing brackets 4|, 42 are-suspended horizontally from platform 26 and beneath the belts 21, 21. v

A bearing plate 43 is supported fromthe sidel of the machine frame below an-d parallel to the' brackets 4l, 42.

A pair of snapping rolls 44 are journaled in parallel arrangement between the free ends of' the brackets 4l, 42 and the plate 43.

Inwardly of therolls 44 there `.isa pair-'of parallel drawingrollsllt, 4-.also journaledv between the brackets andJthe plate.

A- secondzpair of parallel drawingrolls 41,48 arealso journaled-.between the'bracketsv and the plate inwardly of thev first drawing rolls; The drawingrolls of each pair are in Contact b ut mayr-'b'e resiliently Amounted'to expand and allow a corn stalk toxbe gripped" and fed between each pair. ol" rolls..

Asishownton Fig., the several pairs-,of rolls are equippedv on'.- their lowerV `ends beneath the platef'43:withtoothed gears 53 and154 and inter-` connecting-sprocket chains F-and 56.

One. gear' has; a bevel face 49 by` which itA is driven fromyther transverse drive shaft' 36:

The'severalpairsof4 rolls are so connecte dV that the two; pairsiof drawingr'rolls turn` inwardly and. toward the rear of'the'machine as shown by the arrows inzFig.V 4,. to grip the stalks and draw thennthroughthe. device.V Atthesame time that.snappingrolls rotates inwardly and to. the front-of the machine against theV direction of travel of the stalks to engage the-ears of soit corn and' bend them outwardly untill they snap ozofthe stalks `and 'fall onthe conveyerbelt 39'.

*Ifdesiredz the brackets` 41, 42` and plate 43 may 'be offsetw to allow` all rollsto be' in the same horizontal' plane:

A transverse bar 50 is provided beneaththe belts 23 `sufliciently far enough in advance of the rollsn4`4v tof'cause the stalksV to be tilted into an. positionf. substantially.` perpendicular to the rolls .(seeligs. 2-and 9i.

InEi-gf. 9rwe haveshowrrl diagrammatically the operationfoff theY machine. As the beltsI grasp theytassel` endsfo-f an stalk f5|^y and after it has been .cutatthe' base, bycuttters'which are not shown;theystalk isadvancedy toward the snapping; device:4 In the rst movement the butt end of the stalk strikes the cross-bar.- 59,- and is tiltedupwardly tofollow the tassel end;

Thefsta-lkdsthus given an inclinationsuch that itisv fed-between the pairs of rolls substantially `lengthwise-offthe--stalk. This greatly improves thev-presentationof the ears 52 to the snapping rolls. The m-ost eicient presentation ofvthe ears is lengthwise with the tip end foremost so that they will be diverted by'thebladesof the snapping rolls.. Such contact minimizes the possibility` of-` damaging the full sizekernels. vItapproximatesl themotions used in manual opera-l tion'ofV picking the earsv from the` stalks.

Beforethe ears reachthesnapping rolls, the upper end of the stalk will havefbeenfgrasped between both pairs of the drawing rolls. This is emphasized in Fig. 6. It ensures that the stalk shall be held lengthwise in the direction of travel. As a consequence the ear is snapped oil without the stalk being bent to one side, as would be likely where the grip by a single pair of drawing rolls forms a fulcrum l around which the.: stalk canfbefbent byltheblowsgo'fzthe snapping` roll bladesand the` reaction of'l the ears which may break the stalk above the junction with the ear. The final position at the moment when. the ears are separated from the stalk is shown at Fig. 7. The direction of travel is apparent fromFig. 8.

Itl hasA been found that the arrangement, of twoconsecutive `pairs of drawing rolls maintains the` stalk. in thestraight-lin-e direction of travel and withstands the tendency of the stalk to yield laterally from the action of the snapping rolls. Thus the latter have agreater eiect in snappngiof; the'. earswith an engagement; primarily atftheftipsf-off the: ears.` Also the twot pairs-of drawingi rolls'y insure the, frictional griplonz the stalks..

In presenting the stalks tov the rollsthereisia tendency forfthestalks to,`- rise -astheygothrough the; rolls; 'Ifhisncan be checkedto arnaterial `degreehoweven if; the.stalks-.arepresented as nearly aspossible in a positionperpendicular tothe rolls',` i.-e endwise.-A Iiheprovisionl ofl thecrossf bar.` is' an "advantage: as. ittilts: the.- stalk and thus presents; ther latterr and the.:` ears; lengthwiseV or perpendicular to the rolls.

The` essential featuresoi"l our; novel mechanism haveA been; Outlined-above; However, it; willl be obvious thatthe details of the structure, .itsl materialandproportionsfcan be varied, in numeri ous respectsxwithin thev scopefof :therappended claims.-

What. we claimfisa:

1. Av picker for ears 1 ot4 sof-t 'corn :comprising a portable frame,- conveying means for horizontally conveying cut stalks of corn suspended by their tassel ends; apair of ear-snapping rolls through which the stalks are drawnbythey conveying means tassel-end foremostva pairof drawing rolls engaging the stalks:tassel-endfforemost' as.; they passbeyond the snappingrollsV anda second pair of drawingrolls'beyond "the-.said-.rst pair and on ther-continuationof the common tangent of the snapping :rolls and ithe -vflrst drawing rolls.

2;. A1 picker forl earsofsoft cornv comprisingra portable-y frame conveying means for horizontally conveying cut stalks of corn suspendedbwtheir tassel ends,V arigid; transverse bar-against which the lower-'portions of the cutY stalks are: conveyed for,l tilting -thestalksinto substantially horizontal position with their tassel-ends foremosti-'axpair of ear-snappingrolls through-.which the stalks are drawn by-th'ee` conveying means,v apairf of drawing rolls engagingfthestalks tassel-endforemost .as-they pass beyond the snapping rolls-and a-- secondpair; of; drawing rolls' beyond the said rst pair of drawing rolls and inzline; with the direction inwhichtlie` stalks' pass .from they said second pair.

3; A picker'forcearsi-of softxcorncomprising a portable frame; aconveyer forv horizontallyY con'- veying; cutizstalks' ofi corn.. suspended vertically from:A their# tasselfends; ai rigid. transverse bar against which the lower portions-of 'the.cut-:stalksl are: conveyed fori tilting: the stalks'into4 substantially horizontal position with their tassellends foremost, .p a pairz' of ear-snapping." rolls through which the stalksiare; drawn bytheA conveyena.

pair of drawing rolls engaging the stalks tasselend foremost as they pass beyond the snapping rolls and a second pair of drawing rolls arranged with their axes parallel to and beyond the first pair and on opposite sides of the line of travel first pair of drawing rolls.

Jo-HN D. BARNARD. ALTO-N LEVERsoN. v

REFERENCES CITED Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Steele Nov. 4, 1902 Breen Aug. 22, 1911 Ekholm `Jan. 21, 1947 

